The New Perils of Being a Foreign Policy Wonk

Court politics used to have stakes only for the brown and yellow victims of American power abroad. Now, it’s becoming a matter of life and death for the courtiers.

When I was coming of age professionally—during Obama’s first year in office—the idea of working in foreign policy was a radically different proposition than it is today.

I mean, many things haven’t changed between the pre-Trump years and now,¹ but two major differences should alarm anyone with aspirations to walk the halls of power.